By Mary Lou Block, Registered Dietician

What is something important you can accomplish in 20 minutes? Start a project.  Finish a project.  Work-out.  Research on the internet.  Pick up in one room of the house.

How about... Sit down and enjoy a meal?!?

The last item doesn’t seem like an accomplishment, but it is!

Did you know that many years ago Hippocrates said that all disease begins in the gut?

That’s a big idea in today’s world of searching for truth in health. If your gut holds a key to your health, then maybe that changes the significance of a 20-minute meal.

This may irritate those who like to efficiently rush through a meal, or eat on the go, but consider the following.

Satiety hormones help you regulate how much you consume.  Grehlin is the hormone that is dominant when you hungrily begin your meal. CCK and Leptin, on the other hand, are known as the satiety hormones. During a meal there is a gradual switch over from grehlin dominance to CCK and leptin dominance.  CCK and leptin help you come to the feeling of satisfaction and say, “I think I am finished; I will quit now.” Without CCK and leptin, you “Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” which means you’re a Rolling Stone, or maybe a big pebble stuck in the mire of over-eating, and consequently losing the weight battle.  That’s right, you tend to devour your way past any signals from your body telling you to STOP eating.

Here’s another way to look at it.

If you are hoping to do a little damage control to your weight and diet in 2023, reconsider your mealtime.  Can you give yourself 20 minutes to …

*Pause distractions?

*Sit down and slow down, in order to rest and digest?

*Put your fork down and pause between bites?

*Chew your food 15-20 times?

*Set a timer for 20 minutes?  No cheating!

What else can you accomplish in the 20-minute meal?

• Eat with someone and ask, “What was something good that happened to you today?”
• Eat alone and use the time to read a good book or make a gratitude list.

I don’t know, but I have a gut feeling this is going to help you this year.

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4049314/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17212793/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-eating-slowly-may-help-you-feel-full-faster-20101019605

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26621107/

https://functionalfueling.com/the-incredible-benefits-of-eating-slowly/

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-long-to-eat-for-optimal-digestion?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_20230104&mbg_mcid=5858730&mbg_hash=ff3be20d1bb96ac90295d3f0cfd01ba2

Photo Credit: Image by luis_molinero on Freepik